Three New Proposals to Boost Small Businesses in 2010

December 18th, 2009

The Obama administration has proposed a series of propositions to relieve financial tension and expand business for America’s business owners. Highlighted below are three of the most important initiatives announced by the president that will affect you:

Relinquishing fees and increasing guarantees for loans backed by the SBA:

Increasing guarantees would help calm fear among lenders, who are cautious about new SBA loans. “They’re being told not to take additional risks,” says Chris Hurn, co-founder and chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corp., an Orlando, Fla.-based lender that issues commercial real estate loans through the SBA’s 504 loan program. “And in banking parlance, a risk is a loan.”

SBA programs are in obvious need of a boost. The number of 7(a) and CDC/504 loans fell 35% in fiscal 2009. The number of banks issuing these loans increased, thanks to American Recovery Act guaranteeing 90% of each loan. In a press release in November, SBA said that it had depleted stimulus cash for both the 7(a) and 504 loan programs and closing the line for ARRA loan applications in the New Year.

Eliminating capital gains taxes on small business investment for a year:

Just a day after President Obama announced his plan, the House of Representatives voted to increase the capital gains tax rate for venture capitalists and hedge fund managers to 35%, up from 15%. Hope is not lost, as the Senate could still shut down the proposed increase. Mercantile Capital’s Hurn thinks eradicating the tax altogether would be a godsend to small business owners. Investors would be able to endow their capital without the fear of the tax penalty. In turn, more entrepreneurs would be able to attain the cash needed to start their businesses. “My theory is that there’s still a tremendous amount of capital that’s sitting on the sidelines,” he says. “If you believe the future of our economy starts with small business, then you ought to give an extra incentive to invest in that particular sector.”

Encouraging small businesses to create jobs with a possible tax incentive:

For small businesses looking to add jobs, a tax break would be a great benefit. But small businesses aren’t likely to hire a new employee unless they can justify it with additional work. An October survey of 250 small business owners by The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation found more than a third said they implemented layoff’s in the past year, only 5% had added jobs, and more than half said their business volume and profits had dissipated.

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